People

Tanene Allison

Tanene Allison is a writer, new media innovator, political strategist and poet. She is presently launching a new media platform focused on diversifying and creatively fueling the national discourse. Previously Tanene has worked at Brave New Films, Think MTV, and at a variety of other social justice outlets.

Tanene completed her Masters in Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. While at Harvard, Tanene edited the Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy, and was awarded a Point Foundation Uncommon Legacies Scholarship. Her undergraduate studies were at San Francisco State University.

All Work

Having the word “pussy” broadcast as a description of fierce female action wouldn’t be groundbreaking if women in America were able to talk about our health, our vaginas and what it means to be raped, without the domestic powers-that-be trying to control the language and definitions of those things.

On Friday night, as the LGBT community and their allies celebrated Pride throughout the nation, a teenage lesbian couple in Texas were both shot in the head and left to die. What we do now in response matters.

Something new is starting to happen. The last two months have hosted a collection of headlines where one group has stepped up in active support of the rights of another group. Any movement – whether old or new – has only succeeded when actively embraced by allies beyond the most targeted group. What are the possibilities of this new road we’re walking down? What does it mean for all of us to “build that circle of our common safety that all of us deserve”?

Whether you speak loudly about periods in your next meeting, or some other relevant topic, recognize that any squirming discomfort you might create only means you’re likely shattering some taboo that should have been taken down long ago.

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